The second post in Carly’s exploration and reflections on the four Dimensions of the C3 Framework: Dimension 2 – Applying Interdisciplinary Concepts and Tools
October 1, 2014
By Carly Muetterties
I first got my feet wet in education as a teaching assistant at the University of Kentucky for the history department. It was a lot different than teaching high school and presented some unique challenges. One of my most vivid memories was from a particular run in I had with a student. After discussing with the class a paper they would soon be writing, I encouraged them to come by during my office if they wanted any help with the assignment. A student interrupted me to ask: “How are you going to help us with our writing? You’re not an English teacher!” Now, you can imagine my response. Although I was a novice teacher, I had an answer, maybe not the most tactful one, but who could blame me?
Most people think the responsibility for teaching kids to write is the job of English teachers. How has that skill been relegated so narrowly to one subject? If we stop and think about it, it seems obvious that social studies teachers would teach writing. The style of writing historians and others in social studies use is powerful. In my experience, when I learned to write history it made me a much better writer overall. Given my experience, I want to embrace my role as teaching writing. After all, one of the reasons the C3 Framework was created was to promote interdisciplinary literacy, including writing.
When my department was first introduced to the C3 Framework, the aspect we found to be most noteworthy was that the document focuses on what our students are able to DO, rather than the simple regurgitation of facts. If the larger ideas are established—a solid foundation of the disciplinary literacies and writing skills—this will lend itself to the development of a deeper content knowledge.
But, it’s not just writing that I want to emphasize. Recently, I attended a meeting of social studies and English teachers to align our content. We talked about how much better students learned social studies content when they read about that content in novels (e.g. Roaring Twenties in The Great Gatsby and a post-nuclear war landscape in The Road). We met again this summer to create a stronger relationship between our subjects and take advantage of our shared interests. By recognizing our similarities, we can help students extend their reading and writing skills across different subjects – beyond the walls of social studies!
